Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Nutritional treatment for Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia Treatment

Millions of Americans suffer from a chronic condition known as Fibromyalgia which causes constant pain and severely decreases an individuals quality of life. This condition is 9 times more common among middle ages women aged 30-50 than in men. Fibromyalgia is defined as, "a common clinical syndrome of generalized musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and chronic aching, characterized by reproducible tenderness on palpation of specific anatomical sites, called tender points."

The healthcare community has much debate over the cause of Fibromyalgia and in some circles of the healthcare community there is a debate as to whether or not this disease really exists of if it is a psychogenic disease. The best proposed etiology for fibromyalgia to date is chronic hypoxia of the tissues.

The good news is that there has been much research on the topic and even though there is no consensus on what causes fibromyalgia there are a number of safe effective ways to treat it. One such therapy involves a cutting edge nutritional therapy. Many of us have gone to the gym and the next day we are very sore due to a build up of lactic acid in our muscles from the workout. What if your body built up large amounts of lactic acid without exercise due to a nutritional deficiency? This is what recent research has tested to see if fibromyalgia patients are nutritionally deficient casing their bodies to consistently produce large amounts of lactic acid causing them constant pain and discomfort.

When the body has enough oxygen it uses aerobic glycolysis to produce ATP for energy. When the body doesn't have oxygen it switches to anaerobic glycolysis with the end product of anaerobic glycolysis being lactic acid. Adequate oxygen supply enhances ATP yields 18-19 times which means that if the body is using anaerobic glycolysis for majority of its energy production this system will become hyperactive leading to a large build up of lactic acid.

ATP production is controlled by the vitamins thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and pyridoxine (B6) because they are essential for the electron transport system, and all three vitamins require magnesium to become biologically active. During anaerobic glycolysis, from glucose to acetyl-Co A, there are eleven distinct steps; nine of the eleven [82 percent] steps require magnesium, also the Krebs Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle) has nine steps, and three of them require magnesium. Thus, Magnesium deficiency can cause severe problems with energy production in the body leading to symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

To make matters a little more complicated aluminum in the body has a high affinity for phosphate which is necessary to convert the inactive ADP molecule to an energy producing ATP molecule. To help address the problem with aluminum effecting energy production the reserachers used Malic acid which is one of the most potent chelators of aluminum allowing the body to rid itself of excessive aluminum causing an increase in ATP production.

Research in the Journal of Nutritional Medicine showed that patients who supplemented with a daily dose of 300-600mg of magnesium plus 1200-2400 mg of malic acid ALL reported significant subjective improvements of pain within just 48 hours of starting the nutritional therapy. The fibromyalgia tender point scores were reduced by 60 percent at 4 weeks and 66 percent at 8 weeks.

This is amazing news for people who suffer from Fibromyalgia because they no longer must be slaves to fibromyalgia drugs that have dreadful side effects ranging from aggravation of their condition to suicide.

The body has an amazing ability to heal itself, it just needs the right balance of nutrients and an environment conducive to healing. Many times we are told by drug companies that health comes from the outside in, but years of research all show that health comes from the inside out and we must take care of our bodies if we want them to function at an optimal level for years to come.

This Article was written by Dr Micah Hamilton a Lake Forest Chiropractor practicing at South Orange County Chiropractic. Dr. Hamilton has experience dealing with fibromyalgia cases where many other physicians have failed. If you would like to talk with Dr Hamilton about recent breakthroughs in healthcare feel free to contact him at (949)470-4757.

All information in this article is meant for educational purposes only. A licensed healthcare physician should always be consulted before attempting any of the aforementioned therapies.

About Me

Dr. Hamilton is a chiropractor in Lake Forest California. He grew up in Concord, California located in the East Bay Area. He moved to Southern California to play collegiate football where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Medicine from California Lutheran University graduating Summa Cum Laude with departmental distinction honors in Sports Medicine. Following college Dr. Hamilton enrolled in Los Angeles College of Chiropractic where he graduated third in his class with Summa Cum Laude honors.
His Residency was performed at the Veteran Affairs Hospital in North Hills and the CSULA healthcare clinic with Private practice rotations in Seal Beach, CA